Final Fantasy Meets Gears of War

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Square Enix to use Unreal Engine 3 for future titles.

By Hilary Goldstein

In the videogame equivalent of Angelina Jolie hooking up with Brad Pitt, Final Fantasy developer Square Enix will use Epic's Unreal Engine 3 for future next-gen and PC titles. Final Fantasy XIII, exclusive to PS3, is to be the last game to utilize Square's White Engine exclusively.

In an effort to ensure top-quality in its next-gen games, Square Enix is building a "combined technology platform." In a press release issued this morning, Square noted the new platform would be used "throughout the company, utilizing proprietary technologies as well as third-party solutions such as Unreal Engine 3."

Taku Murata, general manager, research and development division at Square Enix, expanded on Square's decision to use Unreal Engine 3. "The complexity of next-generation game systems featuring HD graphics and multi-core parallel processing poses a number of technological challenges to our game development," Murata said. "However, we can expedite our game development process significantly while allowing extra time and resources to be spent on game design and mechanics by establishing an effective technology platform... I'm excited to be partnering with Epic Games in such an important area."

"We're extremely excited to be working with Square Enix," said Epic Games' vice president, Jay Wilbur. "Square Enix is one of the biggest and most influential companies in the worldwide game business, and having them work with Unreal Engine 3 is a major honor for us and something we're very proud to be announcing."

No specific titles were mentioned in the press release, but it is likely the first Square Enix title to utilize the Unreal Engine would come no earlier than 2008.